Cool software

These are the text editors or IDEs I frequently use. If it has a Vim plugin, I’m probably using it.

• Neovim – The best terminal text editor and extension to classic Vim.
  • I use LazyVim to manage plugins and themes.
• Notepad++ – An alternative to my default of Neovim on Windows Systems.
• Kate – A good alternative default on Linux systems.
  • I think it’s also worth mentioning SciTE, which is cross platform and also uses the same core Scintilla libraries.
• JetBrains Rider – The C# / .NET development environment is not particularly good for slim text editors, so I opt for JetBrains Rider over something like VSCode or Visual Studio.
• VSCode– I use VSCode for anything else I find annoying to setup for Neovim.

There other editors available, but I either don’t use them or don’t find them worth mentioning.

• Joplin – First and foremost my favorite note taking app. Supports markdown first class, and WYSIWYG as well. It also features plugin support and a Vim mode.
  • To sync, I use my Nextcloud share, as Joplin natively supports it among other hosts. I’ve used Backblaze B2 with great success in the past.
  • I love Joplin specifically because you can easily embed custom CSS and HTML into the notes. I like to use this feature to create printables and nice looking documentation at work.
• Obsidian – Notable feature, people love Obsidian however the node / brain cloud workflow isn’t for me. Uses markdown as the primary format, tons of features and plugin support.
• Loqseq – An alternative to Obsidian that is open source. I picked it up for a while, but it was pretty similar to Obsidian.

File browsers aren’t very exciting, very much a Point A to Point B ordeal. Most of these applications are based on the original Total Commander for Windows.

• DoubleCommander – Personally my favorite of the bunch. Near feature parity with the original Total Commander if that matters to you, as well cross compatible plugin APIs.
  • Cross-platform, Windows, Linux, and MacOS.
• OneCommand – A modern UI dual pane file manager, free to use individually, but a license is required in commercial scenario.
  • Less fully featured than some of the other Total Commander clones available but looks absolutely the best as a Windows native application.
• FreeCommander – Cross platform, 64bit edition is paid and the software license model only applies to the current release cycle of the app. Haven’t bothered much with this, but did use it briefly.
• Ranger – Classic linux terminal based file manager. Works great and over SSH sessions.
• Yazi – A modern adaptation of the above, and is cross platform.
  • I’ve tried to use Yazi on Windows, but it does have some edge cases that need to be worked out.

Music players are a dime of dozen, but good music players?

• Feishin – A project I personally donated to. A very clean and well maintained music player written in .js and packaged in Electron. Not my preferred method of distribution, but the app makes up for it.
  • Supports Navidrome (Subsonic) and Jellyfin libraries.
• Synfonium – Hands down the best Android music player, however must be purchased.
  • Very active project, responsive developer. Supports Subsonic and Jellyfin APIs, as well as local media.
• MusicBee – A well establish music player, MusicBee is cross-platform on desktops and just works.
• Audacious – Similar to MusicBee, another cross platform alternative.
• Foobar2000 – A classic local only music player for Windows.

• ShareX – A lightweight but powerful file / media sharing tool. I use this in conjunction with my Zipline server to quickly share temporary files and media.
• Flameshot – Same as the above, but for Linux.
• Win11Debloater – Great tool that I run every few weeks to remove Windows telemetry, AI crap, and bloat.
• ExplorerPatcher – A useful tool for bringing back the Win10 taskbar among many other useful tweaks.
• Everything – Voidtools Everything is a standalone search indexing program for Windows. It’s probably the fastest search that exists for it. It’s also dead simple to use.

For all my Sysadmin roleplayers.

• Jellyfin – I’ve never used Plex or Emby to compare against. Jellyfin has worked for me in 99% of cases and is entirely free, transcoding and all.
  • My only gripe is handling metadata / artwork for music. Certain album artwork disappears or changes, or is even the wrong album cover. Most of my music is sourced through RED or OPH, so tags are generally the best they will get.
• Navidrome – I use Navidrome as an alternative music server to my Jellyfin instance, although hardly use it anymore. It provides a web player as well as a Subsonic API compatible server.
  • Navidrome handles album and artist artwork much better than Jellyfin, but requires registration to access the LastFm API.
• DDNS Updater – A great tool for homelabbers or anyone attempting to keep their DNS records solid from home. Supports nearly every Registrar that you would care to use.
• Nextcloud – Only recently began using Nextcloud. For one person, it doesn’t offer a whole lot, but what it does offer is the ability to send your data to others in a straight forward way outside of the OneDrive and GDrive ecosystem.
  • I find that people familiar with self hosted image library, Immich, tend to enjoy the Nextcloud plugin called Memories. I find it a very nice timeline view, and it also has local AI capability to tag photos.
• Zipline – A drop in upload server for tools such as Flameshot and ShareX. Both allow you to quickly screenshot, markup, and upload your photo / video to an online server, instantly returning the link to your clipboard. I use this frequently and highly recommend this as a temporary media sharing tool.